This Was Going To Change Everything
by Kageyamallama
Summary: Joey is afraid of the rain, yet here he is, stood in the middle of it


**Hi, hello, yes hi. **  
**This is a re-write of my veeery old seto/joey fanfiction called 'Lets change all of this.'**  
**It is very old and very cringe. But I decided to re-write it for the nostalgia. **  
**Come get yall's juice.**

Joey Wheeler is afraid of the rain. Ever since he was a kid, he remembers, the branches tapping on the pane of his window, resembling bony hands in the dark of his room. Bright flashes, claps of thunder and the low, terrifying whistle of the wind. Loud, so unbelievably loud. He remembers bringing his duvet up over his head, eyes held tightly shut and silent hot tears running down his cheeks.

But he also remembers his mother, warm smiles as she pulled the covers down enough for Joey to pop his small, trembling face out. Her loving hands as she wiped away his tears, holding him until he fell into the clutches of sleep, storm forgotten.

But that was a long time ago.

Joey is afraid of the rain, yet here he is, stood in the middle of it. His father was never the same after his mother passed, the abusive, violent alcoholic man he was today had kicked him out onto the cold, wet streets as soon as he'd walked in the door. Not giving him even a 5-minute curtesy to grab a jumper, apparently not caring about where his son would end up, much less if he caught a cold.

His uniform was soaked through, and he would be lucky if just _one_ of his cards survived the downpour. He imagined he resembled something like a wet dog, confirming Kaiba's daily remarks reflecting his inferior status. He hated it.

Joey adjusted his grip on the old school bag that was slung over his shoulder, he should have ditched it ages ago, it was probably soaked through anyway and it wasn't like there was anything of importance inside. He wished it was something warm or something useful, something other than heavy textbooks and stupid homework assignments. Yet, he stubbornly held onto it anyway. A crack of lightning sent a cold chill down Joey's spine and a clap of thunder almost tore a sob out of his throat.

Where was he supposed to go now?

Joey continued to wander around Domino city, he thought about going to Yugi's place, but he knew his grandfather wasn't doing too well and he didn't want to burden him with his problems. He could go to Tristan's, but he also knew he was currently dating the city's resident arsehole, Duke Devlin. He did _not_ want to run into him. He thought of Anzu and immediately gagged. No way. Fuck that. He knew she meant well, but no way in hell was he dragging himself to her doorstep. Even if he had nowhere else to go.

With each step Joey took, he felt himself getting weaker and weaker, the storm becoming more violent as the hours dragged on. Rain pouring down do hard that it was too difficult to see through, loud thunder ringing in his ears as he struggled to keep himself upright- the pain in his head getting more and more intense. He felt so _hot_, yet so unbelievably _cold_. He barely registered falling until he felt the cold ground meet the back of his head with a sickening crack, effectively ripping his consciousness from him.

* * *

Seto Kaiba hated the rain, expensive suits got _wet_ in the rain.

He had finished earlier that expected at work, even if it was well into the early morning, developments of his new wave of duel tech was coming along swimmingly and the new trials had been most informative. He was pleased, but his face remained set in stone as he glided through the brightly lit halls of KibaCrorp. He slid into the limo waiting for him out in the rain and told his chauffeur to take him home.

Halfway through the short drive back to the mansion, he noticed a familiar looking blond out in the rain. Backpack still strapped to his shoulders hours after school had ended, uniform dripping off him with the added weight of the rain. Kaiba suspected the idiot had been out in the rain for hours, with his uniform looking the way it did and how his hair was plastered to his face- usual stupid hairstyle ruined.

Against his better judgement he requested his driver pull over.

Before Kaiba could even open the door, open his mouth and yell out something mildly insulting Joey suddenly fell backwards, passing out in the middle of the sidewalk. _Jesus, _he thought, as he got out to haul the unmoving, soaked and incredibly heavy boy back into the dry comfort of his luxury car.

"Sir?" Asked the driver.

"Just continue home." Kaiba coolly responded, trying not to think about how unnaturally hot Joey's body had felt in his arms, how broken he had looked. Why was he even out in this storm anyway?

Kaiba looked out the window, pieces of the puzzle silently falling into place as he remembered all the times Joey had come to school bruised.

* * *

Joey found himself in a dark, damp, empty room, a voice called out for him.

His father suddenly appeared before him, smelling like cheap beer and smiling through cigarette stained teeth. He pulled back his arm and slapped Joey across the face, the contact of skin meeting skin echoing around the empty room. Joey doubled over as his father punched a fist into his stomach, then taking that as an invitation to drive his knee up into his stomach over and over again. Blood spewing out of Joey's mouth from the force of the attack.

He cried out in pain, not understanding why he couldn't fight back, but there was nobody who could help him.

* * *

"Joey" A voice filled with concern broke through his senses.

"Joey." Kaiba tried again, sitting on the side of his bed. Gently shaking the sleeping figure. Watching as Joey cried out softly in his sleep. Watching as his face contorted in pain, scrunching up in agony.

Kaiba lent down a bit more, "Joey." He tried again, a little louder than the last.

Joey broke out of his sleep with a jolt, sitting up quickly. Panicked. Kaiba was given no time to move out of the way as he felt the painful _smack_ of their foreheads colliding.

"_Fuck Joey."_ Kaiba snapped, irritated as he rubbed at the sensitive skin.

"What ? Where is this?" Joey asked, a little delirious, horrifically feverish and still groggy with sleep.

A crack of lightning woke Joey right up and he looked up in horror, right into the eyes of his schoolyard bully.

"The fuck?" Joey said, eloquently. Pulling the sheets to look down at himself, clad in only his underwear, wet from the rain but not as soaked as his uniform or his worn backpack. Neither of which he spotted as his eyes darted around the room. Fucking great. _"The fuck?"_ He repeated, looking up to meet Kaiba's piercing stare.

"I found you passed out in the gutter." Kaiba replied.

"I can take care of myself." Joey snapped, flipping the covers off his cold body and forcing himself to get up. "I certainly _don't _need any of your help."

"It certainly looked like you did, laying in the middle of the street like a dog."

"Where are my clothes, where is my stuff?" Joey asked angrily, turning his head to look around the low-lit room.

"It's being taken care of; I wouldn't recommend going back out into that storm naked."

Joey let out a groan of annoyance, sitting back on the bed defeatedly. He shivered and reluctantly climbed back under the covers.

"You care to tell me why exactly you were out in that storm? Especially at that hour?"

"No."

"Joey," Kaiba said, trying to make his tone sound gentler but knowing it just made him sound even more awkward. "You _can_ tell me."

"You don't even care." Joey said, confused as to why Kaiba was showing him this much affection, why he even dragged him out of the storm in the first place. "Nobody cares." Joey added; voice low as a whisper so Kaiba wouldn't hear it.

"Just stay the night Joey, for god's sake. You've got a fever, I'm not letting you go back out into that storm, you'll just get worse."

Joey said nothing as he turned over, facing away from the brunette.

"Fine." Joey finally grumbled after a few minutes.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking nobody cares for you, Joey." Kaiba said gently, Joey felt the bed shift and he was gone, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Kaiba pushed all thought of the blond in his bed away, placing his focus back on the report he's been drawing up before he'd gone in to check up on Joey.

Kaiba was tired. Working all day and night to stay on top of everything that had been stacked on his shoulders, trying to propel his company into success, more successful than it already was, while still being forced to attend school.

He'd once thought school was a minor inconvenience, he was already at university level in all his subjects, fluent in a couple languages and superior enough in athletics thanks to the relentless tutors his adoptive father had hired for him and his natural smarts. Kaiba has started to see the error in his judgement as his workload increased, resulting in him having to bring most of his more tedious work home with him. Too much possibly complete in his office or at the horribly underfunded library at Domino's high school.

2:46AM flashed proudly at the bottom of Kaiba's laptop screen and he groaned. He'd been at it for more than a few hours now, writing up report after report for his overly demanding board of directors. Only taking a break to finish his homework.

He abandoned his half-written report in favour of too-strong coffee and something to eat. He padded down to the kitchen, stopping only for a minute to press his ear to his bedroom door. He continued his journey, satisfied with hearing nothing but silence. Which was good, Kaiba thought, he must be sleeping.

Kaiba made his coffee quickly and reheated whatever leftovers Mokuba had left in the fridge, thank god for his little brother.

* * *

When Joey was woken up for the second time due to the lightning, he had curled up into himself, clutching at the pillow. The full brunt of his situation was brought to the forefront of his mind as he cried, nowhere to go. The rain making everything seem even more hopeless than it already was, he could feel himself starting to break open. He felt like a kid again, back in his own childhood bedroom waiting for his mother to come and make everything feel less terrifying. Waiting for her soothing presence.

Joey heard the door open, light from the hallway poured into the dark room and for a split second he thought it was his mother. When his eyes met soft blue ones, he was convinced he was dreaming, his mother wasn't here anymore.

"Joey?"

"Kaiba?" Joey was confused, who was this person? Where was his mother?

"You okay?"

"No." Joey sniffed. And offered no explanation, he really didn't want to be alone right now. He could feel his defences slipping away like the rain falling on the window.

Against his better judgement, le lifted up one side of the covers, inviting the brunette to slip in beside him. Silently hoping that the taller male wouldn't make fun of him in his tender state. He'd convince himself that his actions were due to how delirious his fever was making him, but for now he just needed someone else near him. He didn't want to be left alone, not right now. Even _if_ it was someone who was supposed to hate him.

Kaiba gaped at the sight of Joey beckoning him under the covers. All of a sudden, he felt how _tired_ he was, how _good_ it would feel to lie next to the blond. A warm bed providing a safe haven from the storm rattling the windows, the howling wind and the work that threatened to put him in an early grave.

He pushed everything from his mind, simply took off his socks, and slipped in.

The two boys laid close together, Joey still crying and Kaiba trying his hand at comforting instead of hurting. The boy in his arms reminding himself too much of his own childhood. He guided Joey's head to rest against his chest, feeling his fever through the fabric of his thin shirt, and laid his own cold hand against the other's forehead. Silently hoping the cool pressure of his skin would bring him some sort of relief.

Joey fell asleep like that. Soft breaths from the man above him and the _thump thump thump_ of a steady heartbeat slowing his panicked own.

* * *

The two boys had laid like that until the storm had ceased to be, until the sun broke out from the confines of the dark clouds, drying up the remnants of the rain still left on the city below.

The sunlight woke Kaiba up first, feeling the most rested he's ever felt in his entire life. The boy in his arms shifted and Kaiba's eyes snapped open as he remembered exactly what had happened in the early morning. He looked down at the still-sleeping Joey, tear tracks still staining his face. He looked like pure shit, all puffy eyed and miserable, yet Kaiba felt his heart involuntarily _lurch_ at the broken man in his hands. Fuck, he thought, dragging a hand through his hair.

Joey awoke a few moments later, when a faint knock sounded from the door.

"Seto?" Kaiba's little brother, Mokuba, had asked.

"Yeah, I'm here." Kaiba said before Joey could even open his mouth to say anything, bringing his hand up to cover the blond's mouth- just in case.

"Just letting to you know I'm leaving for school, I'm on classroom duty today so I have to leave a little earlier."

"That's fine, get my driver to take you to school today."

"What about you?" Mokuba asked, concerned.

"I'm not going in today, too much work to do."

"Well, okay then. I'll see you later, don't overdo it."

"Don't worry about me." Kaiba replied, removing his hand from Joey's mouth when he was sure Mokuba was gone.

"_What the fuck."_ Joey whispered.

"I'm just as surprised as you."

"Since when do you willingly come into bed with me?"

"Since when do you cry into my chest?" Kaiba retorted.

"Shut up." Joey groaned, slapping a hand over his face.

Neither of them made any effort to move, Joey too confused to move, pressed up against Kaiba. Kaiba too content where he was, just letting himself lie there.

"What happened last night?" Kaiba asked.

"No." Joey said, he didn't want to have this conversation. "It's none of your business. You shouldn't even care what happens to me."

"Joey, I picked you up off the sidewalk last night. You're clearly in some sort of trouble."

Joey hesitated. Then sighed.

"I got kicked out."

"Why?"

"Fuck knows."

"You can stay here." Kaiba said, not pressing the issue any further. I was clear that Joey didn't want to talk about it.

"Wha- You don't even like me!" Joey protested, clinging to the same excuse.

"And you're not supposed to like me but _who_ asked _who_ to sleep with them last night?"

Joey was stunned into silence, technically what Kaiba said was true, he _did_ ask Kaiba to stay the remainder of the night with him. And he _did_ have nowhere else to go. He thought over the idea for a few more moments.

"Did you really mean what you said last night?" Joey asked after thinking everything over/

"What did I say?" Kaiba not understanding what he was referring to.

"When you said that I shouldn't make the mistake of thinking nobody cares for me."

"Yes."

"Do you care for me?" Joey asked, hesitantly. Not sure if he really wanted to hear the answer.

"Joey, I let you cry in my arms. I let you sleep in my bed. Do you _really _think that's the actions of a person that doesn't care?"

"Fine," He said. "Then I'll stay."

"Good." Kaiba replied.

Shit, Joey thought. This was going to change _everything. _


End file.
